This study was alone to identify the meaning and the essence of the menopause experience by means of the Colaizzi's phenomenological method. The participants were eight women, 48-60 years old, who were experiencing perimenopause or postmenopause. They were selected using a theoretical sampling technique. Data were collected through in-depth interviews from April 6 to May 20, 1999. The interviews took from 40 to 90 minutes. Interviews were tape- recorded and analyzed using the constant comparative method. Significant statements from data were extracted. From these formulated meanings, 18 themes, 8 clusters of themes and 3 catagories were constructed. Final descriptions were found to be valid through the interviewee validation process. Essential themes of the menopausal experience which emerged were "coming of change", "inclined to deny the in mind", and "adapted life". Menopause, as coming of change was the turning point in the women's life cycle acompaning changes, in body and mind and marital life changes. Especially, the unpredictable menopausal changes were an opportunity to hide the fact of menopause and not to talk with anybody. Such a phenomenon reflected on the psychological attributes of menopausal woman such as an inclination to deny in the mind. Their experiences of menopause as adapted life were generally regarded as signalling the end of fertility and were interpreted as a natural developmental process that indicates a life transition. In conclusion, participants depicted the menopause as a natural stage in the life cycle. In order to help women have a positive life change and self accomplishment, nurses need to understand the essential themes of the menopausal experience. Thus, the importance of an open approach in eliciting the phenomena of menopause cannot be overemphasized. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that exercise program is one of the effective interventions to improve the self-efficacy and also to lower the fatigue in the sample of female college students.
Climacteric ; Fatigue ; Female ; Fertility ; Humans ; Life Cycle Stages ; Menopause ; Perimenopause ; Postmenopause

No abstract available.
Andropause* ; Climacteric* ; Humans ; Male ; Male*

The most troublesome symptoms of perimenopause and menopause are hot flushes, insomnia, depression, sexual dysfunction and cognitive decline. The suggested mechanism is the hormonal changes of estrogen, progesterone and androgen as well as neuromodulating effect of estrogen, which enhances activity of 5-HT and norepinephrine, inhibiting monoamine oxidase and dopamine. Though testosterone deficiency is not analogous to female menopause, male climacteric has become a clinical issue in current psychiatry.
Climacteric ; Depression ; Dopamine ; Estrogens ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Menopause* ; Monoamine Oxidase ; Norepinephrine ; Perimenopause* ; Progesterone ; Serotonin ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; Testosterone

PURPOSE: This study compared climacteric symptoms, knowledge of menopause and menopausal management of middle aged women living in urban and rural areas. METHOD: The study subjects included 287 women aged 40-64 years in P city and G town. The instruments used in this study were a climacteric symptoms scale and knowledge of menopause and a menopausal management scale. Data was analyzed with SPSS Win 10.0. RESULT: The mean age of middle-aged women living in urban areas was 47.9 years and that of women in rural areas was 48.0 years. The mean score of the climacteric symptoms of middle-aged women living in urban and rural areas was 48.8 and 50.4 respectively, and was not significantly different. The mean score of the knowledge of menopause of middle-aged women living in urban areas was higher than that of women in rural areas (p=.017). In addition, the mean score of the menopausal management of middle-aged women living in rural areas was higher than that of women in urban areas. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that not only general characteristics but also living areas should be considered in developing nursing interventions to manage the climacteric symptoms of middle aged women.
Climacteric* ; Female ; Humans ; Menopause* ; Middle Aged* ; Nursing

OBJECTIVETo probe clinical application value of the Chong Vessel.

METHODSAnalyze characteristics of running of the Chong Vessel based on running and distribution of the Chong Vessel in ancient literatures, and summarize indication rule of the Chong Vessel from the function of the Chong Vessel in the human body and the indications of the Chong Vessel, further probe into relation between the Chong Vessel and function of the human endocrine system.

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture-moxibustion therapy can exert the action, which can not be attained by drugs, on the diseases and syndromes induced by endocrine imbalance, such as climacteric syndrome and the diseases and syndromes caused by deficiency of both qi and blood in the aged.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to define the main factors influencing depression of climacteric women. METHOD: The data was analyzed using a SAS 6.12 PC+ program for descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression. Two hundred seventy climacteric women between 40 and 59 years old were recruited from 6 areas in Korea from Oct. 5, 2002 to Dec. 13, 2002. The reliability of the 7 instruments were tested with Cronbach's alpha which ranged from .82 to .95. RESULT: The results were as follows : The mean depression score was 14.17, which was slightly high. The depression was influenced significantly by occupation, economic status, and menopause status. There were significant correlations between all the predictive variables and the depression(r=.73~ -.17, p <.05). Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that 59% of the variance in depression was significantly accounted by stress(53%), climacteric symptoms(3%), marital adjustment (2%), and health promotion behavior(1%). CONCLUSION: In reducing the climacteric women's depression, the above major influencing factors should be considered.
Climacteric* ; Depression* ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Korea ; Menopause ; Methods ; Occupations

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between self reported climacteric symptoms, knowledge of menopause, menopausal management, in middle-aged women. The subjects of this study were 209 women from 40 to 64 years of age. The data was analyzed using SPSS program for t-test, ANOVA and Pearson's correlation coefficients. The results of the study were as follows : 1. The characteristic variables significantly related to self reported climacteric symptoms were education(F=6.371, p<0.001), income (F=4.481, p<0.05), mensturation state(t= -2.004, p<0.05), mensturation cycle(t=-2.039, p<0.05), hormone therapy(t=2.107, p<0.05), health condition(F=21.111, p<0.001).2. The characteristic variables significantly related to knowledge of menopause were education(F=6.580, p<0.001), health condition (F=3.487, p<0.05).3. The characteristic variable significantly related to menopausal management was income(F=3.080, p<0.05). 4. The relationship between self reported climacteric symptoms and menopausal management was statistically significant with a negative correlation(r=-0.323, p<0.05).In conclusion, climacteric symptoms - based complaints by middle-aged women was negatively correlated to menopausal management. Therefore, health promotions designed to increase climacteric women's health should be a planned program based on results of the study.
Climacteric* ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Menopause* ; Self Report ; Women's Health

PURPOSE: To identify factors influencing adaptation to menopause in middle-aged women. METHODS: Participants were 157 middle-aged women who visited Y gynecologic clinic in C city. Data were collected through interviews using the Korean CES-D (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression), climacteric symptoms, life event stress, and menopausal adaptation scale. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffé test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple regression using SPSS. RESULTS: There were significant differences in adaptation to menopause according to monthly income, life satisfaction, and marital satisfaction. Adaptation to menopause had significantly negative correlations with depression, climacteric symptoms, and life event stress. Depression, monthly income, climacteric symptoms, and life event stress were verified as factors affecting adaptation to menopause. These factors accounted for 41.9% of adaptation to menopause. CONCLUSION: These variables should be considered in nursing interventions to improve adaptation to menopause in middle-aged women. Individuals should have the will to overcome menopause positively and actively.
Climacteric ; Depression ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Menopause* ; Nursing

PURPOSE: This study is to provide basic data for the development of climacteric adaptation programs by identifying relevant factors based on the degree of climacteric adaptation and perceived stress, marital closeness and mental health in middle-aged women. METHODS: The data were collected from 191 middle-aged women aged 45 to 60 living in the B metropolitan city during July to September 2018. The data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 21.0 Statistical Program by descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffé test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression. RESULTS: The relevant variables that affect the adaptation of middle-aged women to climacteric were founded as somatization (β=-.29, t=−3.99, p<.001), depression(β=−.24, t=−3.03, p=.003), perceived stress (β=−.19; t=−2.50; p=.013), and spouse's job status (β=.16; t=2.77, p=.006). Overall, approximately 37.8% of the variability in climacteric adaptation was explained by the 4 variables in this study (R2=.378, F=24.12, p<.001). CONCLUSION: Since the middle-aged women in menopause show maladjustment due to negative emotions, it is important for them to control negative emotions and stress. Therefore, it will be necessary to develop a support system through spouse's careful attention and self-help meetings as well as a program of self-awareness of their symptoms for middle-aged climacteric adaptation.
Climacteric ; Female ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Marriage ; Menopause ; Mental Health

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Soy isoflavones are expected to improve menopausal symptoms and osteoporosis in women. However, their efficacy is still inconclusive, and there was limited data for postmenopausal women in South Korea. We examined the effects of soy isoflavones on climacteric symptoms, bone biomarkers, and quality of life in Korean postmenopausal women. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A randomized, double-blind study design was used. Eighty-seven participants who had undergone natural menopause were randomly administered either 70 mg/day isoflavones (n = 43) or placebo (n = 41) for 12 weeks. We assessed the Kupperman index for climacteric symptoms and the menopause-specific quality of life (MENQOL) questionnaire for quality of the life. Biomarkers of bone metabolism were also measured in serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP), osteocalcin (OC), N- and C-terminal cross-linking telopeptides of type I collagen (NTx, CTx), and urine-deoxypyridinolin (u-DPD). RESULTS: Scores of the Kupperman index were decreased in both the isoflavones group (−7.0 ± 15.8, P = 0.0074) and placebo group (−6.3 ± 14.6, P = 0.0064) during the intervention, but no significant difference was noted between the groups. Regarding the bone formation markers, the level of serum BALP increased by 6.3 ± 4.1% (P = 0.004) and OC increased by 9.3 ± 6.2% (P < 0.001), meanwhile those of the placebo were not changed. For the bone resorption markers, NTx, CTx, and u-DPD were not significantly different in either group. MENQOL was significant decreased in the isoflavone group (−0.6 ± 0.5) and placebo group (−0.6 ± 0.4), with a significant difference between groups (P = 0.0228). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that 70 mg isoflavones supplement has beneficial effects on bone formation markers; however, it showed no benefit compared to the placebo on climacteric symptoms or quality of life.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Biomarkers* ; Bone Resorption ; Climacteric* ; Collagen Type I ; Double-Blind Method ; Female ; Humans ; Isoflavones* ; Korea ; Menopause ; Metabolism ; Osteocalcin ; Osteogenesis ; Osteoporosis ; Postmenopause ; Quality of Life*